Flight of a Demon
by An0n Author
Summary: Renton Aryhart always had a dream to become a pilots. His dad was a pilot and he always said that he was the guardian of the sky. Taking his place in the sky, Renton now must be the guardian as a new war breaks out. Will he and his friends survive? Or die trying.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: This is going to be my first Ace Combat story I've done and with all the AC5 stories I've read *Coughs*TheAcesofRazgriz,LengendaryAces:TheLegendofRazgriz,andTheRazgriz*Coughs* I sure have big shoes to fill -w-; No sweat... Any ways! I give tanks to pir84lyf, Doran Maya, and Blaze118 for inspiring to write this fanfic. Now for a disclaimer to say that I do not own anything of the Ace Combat franchise or any concept character said in the franchise. Now onto the story!**

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_**Prologue: Renton Aryhart is who I am**_

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-Blaze-

When a person is just a kid, they have dreams of what they want to be when they grow up. For some they want to be a construction worker while others want to a businessmen or even a famous surfer or skate boarder. But, for me I've always had a dream of being a pilot. My father was a pilot and he was the person that I would always look up. He'd take me up sometimes for a joy ride around and in the sky I felt free. The more he took me up, the more I fell in love with the sky and I soon had a hardened resolve to become a pilot after my father. Though that dream was nearly shattered with the start of the Belkan war. My father was away on base for who knows what and my younger sister was away down in southern Osea visiting my grand parents leaving myself, my mother, older brother and sister back in our home. But two days after my sister had left for my grand parents home was when it all happened. I was only 7 when Belka started the war but on that day my world was turned upside down and my life was changed for ever. That all happened 15 years ago, and now I'm here to follow in my dads foot steps in becoming a pilot.

**Heierlark Air Force Base**

**September 21, 2010**

I sat in the cockpit of a F-5E Tiger waiting in line with three other pilots waiting to taxi off the runway when my instructor hollered over the radio.

"This is Capt. Vixon Braun, to tower. Am I clear for takeoff?"

"This is the tower, You are cleared for take off Capt. Braun." He applied full throttle and I watched his plane shoot down the runway before the next pilot took his spot to take off. Today was the day that would test my skills to the max. This day was the day to see if this batch of trainee pilots will drop or pass to protect the skies of Osea. Today I'm flying with one of few people that I would trust my life with in the sky, Kei Nagase. I've never gotten to fully know Kei in our time on Heierlark, but she was 23 and of Japanese descent and too was going to see if her training was enough to best our instructors. Though from the first day I've seen her on Heierlark, I knew that it was going to be a crush on first sight.

"This is tower to both Edge and Blaze, you're clear for take off." The tower radioed and I nodded as I applied full throttle to my plane. It rocketed down the runway before I gained enough speed to take off. I pulled the stick back steadily and the nose of my plane slowly lifted up until my plane followed it up. With the wheels off the ground, I still felt at home in the sky and a small smile crept up on my face behind the oxygen mask I was wearing. Retracting my gear, I looked behind me to see Kei was following close behind. We both leveled off at 6,000 feet and followed our instructors to the correct destination before the called over the radio.

"All right. Today will be the final test to see if you will pass basic flight training. Filbrik and I will be flying against you two and we will hold nothing back. Survive the next five minutes or shoot us both down will be a victory for yourself. We don't expect anything from our top two students. You are to keep on flying your current heading until you get bounced by us."

"Roger that." Both kei and I said in unison.

"Show us what you're made of!" Both Braun's and Filbrik's plane disappeared into the clouds below and both Kei and I had our eyes pealed for any flicker of a canopy or a blip on our radar. I looked behind us in case when a blip on my radar said there was a target right behind us coming through the clouds.

"Edge, bogy 5 o'clock low!" We both broke formation as one of the instructor's planes broke the clouds surface and went to tail Kei. I was about to roll around to latch onto his tail when the second fighter broke the surface as well and latched onto my own.

"I got you now Aryhart!" I yanked the stick hard hard going into a high-g turn and I grunted slightly under the pressure of the g's before I snapped the stick the opposite direction trying to shake off the instructor from my tail. Cutting the throttle, I pulled back on the stick to bring my plane up, causing more drag and reducing airspeed to get up n the instructors tail. Leveling out, I pushing the throttle again and went on to peruse the instructor. He was pulling many maneuvers to try and shake me from his tail but I staid glued on his tail when the tone of a missile lock hummed in my ears. I quickly snapped my stick to the right and back pulling another high-g turn breaking off my engagement to have the second instructor follow me. I looked back to see if the one I was tailing had turned on me but I was confident as I saw Kei trailing him.

"You defiantly are one of the top students I've ever had Aryhart, but time's up." Braun sneered over the radio I smirked as I kept on flying.

"It's defiantly been fun sir," the tone of a missile lock on myself rung in my ear, "have you ever seen a Cobra loop performed in one of these Tigers before?" Yanking the stick up, I cut throttle and pulled my air breaks to perform a vertical corkscrew into a loop right above Braun. I could see him looking up at me from his canopy before I fell in behind him obtaining a missile lock and shot him down. I looked over my shoulder to see Kei pull a barrel roll over her attacker and she trailed for a short second before she too shot down her instructor when the control tower finally called in.

"This is the control tower, objective completed in 2 minutes and 18 seconds! That's amazing!" My eyes widened since a regular dogfight like this would take about 4 to 5 minutes, but for us to take out our instructors just over 2 minutes is amazing.

"Jeez, I feel like the two of you could be the new Cipher and Solo Wing Pixy..." Muttered Filbrik and I just smirked at his remark.

"_If you only knew Filbrik"_ I thought before both Edge and I formed up on our instructors tail.

"Alright you two. Lets return to base. You both pass with flying colors." Braun said and we all landed back at Heierlark to be greeted with a mob of young cadets that either had just transferred into the base for training or been with us from the beginning of my own training here. However, little did they knew that before I came here, I was trained by none other than the Cipher. Cipher... No, my dad was the one that saved me from the depression of the war. He taught me to fly and love the sky; for the sky to become a second home for me. He taught me that there's going to be people out there that want to turn it into a place of darkness and I will have to be its guardian. During the war, my dad became the guardian for the sky. Cipher allegedly disappeared after the war but only a selected few know the truth myself included. I smiled knowing that I have my wings now and that I can go up to protect the sky but I took a glance at Kei to see she was smiling some as the cadets surrounded her, but it was only a mask she had put on. Her eyes were filled with sadness and loneliness. We both went our separate ways to change out of our flight suit but Kei was still on my mind as I closed my locker door and I kept on thinking why she had that sad look on her face all the way down to the mess hall. Getting my food, I looked towards some friends that I've made here at Heierlark but then I saw Kei who was sitting all alone picking at her food. I knew that she didn't really get close to anyone but I didn't realize that she didn't have any friends. That's something I had to change for her. Sitting down across from her, I took a fork full of spaghetti and she looked off into the distance away from me before I swallowed and tried to start up a conversation.

"So tell me, what's on your mind?" She just kept on looking away from me with that blank distant stare that I as to familiar with. "If you don't want to tell, then go right head. You know my mother would always read me a story of this princess that nursed this injured dove back to health and then she herself got sick and the dove went on to help her? Just know that I can be the dove for you and you my princess." I could see her crack a smile and I smiled as well.

"There, isn't that better?" She finally looked up to me and I could see some of that loneliness had disappeared. "So tell me princess, what is on your mind?"

"Well... It's just... I've always dreamed to become a pilot and now that I have... What now? I can go flying anytime I want but... What should I do next since I can fly whenever I want? I've never planed ahead for anything because flying was my dream but... What now?" I gave her a soft smile because I knew where she was going.

"My dad was a pilot and he too loved the sky. He was the one that taught me to love the sky but he also taught me something else. He taught me that I had to train to protect the sky." She looked at me a bit confused so I kept on explaining what I meant. "I know that we are currently at peace but what if some country or radical group all of a suddenly attacked? The skies wouldn't be at peace any longer and it's up to myself and my other pilots to protect that peace and take the sky back from the clutches of evil. You're getting where I'm going?" She nodded and her smile grew slightly.

"I've never thought of it like that. Being an angle that is sent to protect the sky." I smiled as well knowing that I've became her friend.

"You should smile more often Kei. You look nice with one-" I stopped myself as I realized that I said my own thought out loud and I quickly stuffed my mouth with some of the food I had before I could say anything more. My face was turning red from what I said and I glanced at Kei's to see her cheeks were flushed as well.

"_AGH! Renton, you idiot! How could you let something like that slip out of your mouth!?"_

"Y-You think so?" I looked up at Kei surprised and I nodded my head and that smile returned slightly and I just chuckled slightly.

"You do Kei." We continued to eat through dinner and we both talked about how we both flew and how we could improve in our flying when we both left the cafeteria Kei was called to the commanders office for who knows what and I just went back to my room tog et some sleep for the next day. The very next day, I went around to find Kei again to only find out that she was all ready shipped out to another base as a pilot and my heart sank slightly. I wish I could have talked to her more than that single hour we had. I've even got my own orders to be shipped to this base on an island right off of the coast of Wester Osea. I was assigned to the 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron, also referred to as Wardog Squadron, that was located on Sand Island Air Base and I smiled.

"_So I did get assigned to him I see... He must have pulled some strings for me to be assigned here." _I thought and I smiled as I packed my clothing and belonging before boarding the C-130 that was dropping off the different trainees at different bases and I was the last drop off for the flight. It was all ready kind of late when I first boarded the plane and I knew with all the stops and I knew when I finally land, it will be early morning. I got as comfortable as I could in the seat before I dozed off into an irritating sleep.

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**Sand Island Air Base**

**September 23, 2010**

I was jolted awake when the plane finally landed and I looked sleepily at my watch to find it was 7 in the morning. I yawned and stretched before looking around me to find I was the last person on the plane. Unbuckling from my seat, the landing hatch finally opened and I smiled as I saw a person that I haven't in a long time.

"Well I'll be damned if it isn't uncle Bartlett." He gave me one of his stern glares that even now keeps me on edge.

"Cut the uncle business Aryhart. You either address me as Capt. Bartlett or as Sir. You got that?"

"Oh... Sorry about that sir." His glare lightened up and he smiled at me.

"Still, to you your mother and myself my sister, would be proud of how far you came. And you can only address me as uncle whenever we are alone. No one knows that you and I are related and I would like to keep it that way."

"Of course sir."

"Now that you are here, the room you're assigned to will be room 202. Go throw your stuff into it and check into the base commander. He wants to meet you then meet me down at the hanger." I saluted him with a small smile before leaving to find my room. I went into the barracks to find my room to find it was at the end of the hallway.

"198, 199, 200, 201, 202!" I looked at the door before entering it. It was nice and clean and it had a nice smell to it. Seeing how the bottom bunk was used even more than the top one, I chose the top one. I sat on the couch looking around to see what the room I'm going to be living in for most of my time here would be like when I got up again to go find the base commander. Walking to the main office, I followed the hall way before I came to a door labeled Perrault. Walking in, I could see this short fat guy who looked like he couldn't even pass the physical exam or even fit inside the cockpit. He scowled at me and I could all ready tell he's going to be an ass.

"So, you're the new recruit that was just shipped in?"

"Yes sir, I am."

"2nd Lt. Renton Aryhart is it?" "Yes sir."

"From what I've heard, you were one of Captain Braun's best pilots he has had. But you're on my base now so I don't care if you're the best pilot in base, a hotshot pilot, or even the god damn president! You're under my own control and I expect that you follow orders!"

"... Yes sir."

"I thought I told command that I didn't want anymore fresh pilots to be transferred here for me to baby sit. We don't need any more god damn pilots here and I have no idea why they just sent another one!"

"_Note to self: Thank grandpa later for this."_ I thought as Perrault continued to rant on about how he didn't like me and I knew we both weren't going to get along well in the future when dismissed me from his office. Staying to Bartlett's word, I went down to the hangers to find Bartlett and this older man who was balding working on the F-5E's.

"Aaaahh, Renton, there you are. What do you think of our base commander?" Bartlett asked and I rolled my eyes.

"He's a total ass."

"Well, I could have seen that coming. It seems like he's got a poll so far up his ass, I don't even think it's possible to pull it out." The three of us shared a laugh when he cleared his throat to get back onto business. "Anyways, I would like you to meet the bases mechanic, Pops."

Pops stuck his hand out to shake and I grasped it firmly.

"I trust that you keep all the planes in perfect conditions?"

"The day that I keep a plane that isn't in its finest conditioned, tuned perfectly, and whipped down of all grease is the day when I'll be laying in a coffin my boy. These planes and my children and I keep them all in great condition." He patted the nose of the current F-5E he was working on and he looked at me. "Tell me, do you like going by your call sign or by your real name?"

"My call sign is Blaze but I don't really care what you call me to be honest." I shrugged and he looked back at the fighter patting it once more.

"Well Blaze, this fighter here is going to yours. She flies well and I can assure you, I keep her in better shape than the ones back in Heierlark." I looked down the line of all the fighters to see all of them were F-5E's except that one F-4 Phantom at the end. All of them were loaded with the standard munition load out and that interested me.

"Why all the fighters fully loaded? Isn't it protocol to keep all munitions stored in the ammo dump until it's needed?"

"That's correct but we've got a journalist here to cover us and we're going to take a hop in the jets real soon." Bartlett checked his watch and then looked towards the door to the hanger. "In fact, some of the pilots should be here to check up for their planes."

"And am I late captain?" I turned my head to the all to familiar voice and I came eye to eye with- Well I'll be damned, it's Kei Nagase from Heierlark.

"What are you doing here Princess?" She was as astonished as I was and she walked up to me before jabbing her hand into my side.

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

"You two know each other?" Bartlett looked between the two of us bringing his hand up to his chin.

"I knew her back when we were training back at Heierlark." He grunted in reply when this new guy came strolling in.

"So the lovely Nagase knew the new nugget from Heierlark eh?" A man with this goofy ass sideburns came strolling in with his flight suit on and looked me over. "You sure have an interesting pick in men Nagase."

She jabbed him in the side and he pleaded for mercy and both Bartlett and I shook out heads in disbelief.

"Oh, where are my manes. Names Alvin Davenport, call sign Chopper. Please, just call me Chopper." He stuck his hand out and I took it.

"Renton Aryhart, call sign, Blaze. You can call me Blaze." Pops had already went back to work on the fighter when I left to get my own flight suit on along with my boots. I grabbed my gloves and helmet before making it back out to the hanger. The rest of the trainee pilots along with two other instructors and the journalist were there.

"All right everyone! Gennette here is here to take photos of yourselves as if you were going into combat! I expect nothing less from all of you and if I think you're slacking in this flight, I will personally beat your ass when we land!" I could feel the tension rise around some of the recruits and I smiled.

"_You're even a hard ass as an instructor Uncle? I guess once a hard ass, always a hard ass."_ i chuckled slightly at the thought before we all quickly made out ways to our panes. Gennette took the seat behind Bartlett in the F-4 while we all started our engines. My own plane and Kei's were on opposite sides of the hanger so I never got to see the number on her plane which I would come to regret later. We all started to start up our engines as we strapped in and people were all ready taxiing onto the run way. I started my own engine to get a good whirl as the turbine started to spin up when a small explosion shook my plane. My head snapped around to see smoke billowing out one of the engines and I quickly shut them down. Popping the canopy I looked back as Pops ran over to see what was happening.

"Jesus! What the hell happened this time!" He yelled as he looked at the plane. "I swear, there was nothing wrong with it when I did my checks earlier!"

"This is Blaze to Heartbreak One. I'm experiencing engine problems so I won't be able to make it up this hop."

"Aaawwww, really? I was hoping that I would get to see what made you such a great pilot... Oh well, I guess I will have to see another time... Lets jest get on with this normal day and give this guy the photo's he wanted." Though little did we all know was that this day wasn't going to turn out as normal as we all thought.

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**And this ends the prologue! I'm sorry if the air combat scenes are a bit bland. I'm still trying to get used to writing that and I'm going to need to do some more research into some of the more advance fighter tactics. I know how to do them... I just don't know the technical terms for them -w- Anyways, please review to see what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Shorebirds**_

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I sighed thinking that I wouldn't be able to get up into the air this time and I even found out that Chopper's plane too had been damaged after a bird strike and was in repairs so I wasn't alone on the ground. Even though I wasn't able to get into the air, I still could listen on what was going on with the flight sortie. I sat back in my F-5's cockpit and listened as Bartlett talked the nuggets through flight formations along with some training dogfighting.

"Aha!" I took off my headset off and looked back from my cockpit at Pops who was holding up this burnt round object. "Found your problem here Blaze." He tossed me the object and before I could catch it, Kirk intercepted it in mid flight. "Kirk must have left his ball inside the intake of your jet. I have no idea how it got past those fans, but it did."

"Will she be able to fly again soon?"

"I think I might get yours and Choppers fixed up by tomorrow." I smiled as I hoped out of the pilots seat and went back to my room I was in. Down the hall I could hear some rock music blazing through the door and I went down to investigate who it was. Poking my head in I saw Chopper on his couch relaxin to the song and it took me a second to figure out what song it was.

"So, you like listening to Face on the Coin?" He looked at me and those big goofy sideburns kept on grabbing attention.

"You don't know the half of it Blaze. This song is just too good to listen just a few times! You know what I mean?" I chuckled slightly before leaning against the door frame.

"And from what I've heard from what the Bartlett is doing with the Nuggets, He's putting them through training exercises and formations for Gennette to take photos of."

"Kind of boring if you ask me..." He mumbled.

"But it's better than being stuck on the ground. Speaking of which, Pops said that he can get both of our planes ready for flight tomorrow."

"Good, the ground was starting to get stale. I miss the sky." I left and went to my own room to get some shut eye.

"_This is Blaze. No sign of enemies in our area."_

"_Roger that Blaze. Continue with your patrol before returning to base."_

"_Roger that command." I looked around the cockpit and took in the beautiful blue sky around me. This was my second home and nothing had changed about it. I looked to my left to see Nagase flying as my wingman, to my right Chopper, and behind Chopper was Bartlett. Everything was peaceful and I took it all in when the sky started to turn red. An explosion to the left of me shook my plane I quickly whipped my head around to see Bartlett's plane go down in flames. Chopper tried to bank away but a jet black plane zoomed by filling his plane full of hole before it exploded as well. I tried my best to protect Nagase from being shot down but failed miserably as her cockpit was painted red and her plane rolled and nosed over into a dive._

"_You can't protect it Renton."_

"_Whose there!?" I whipped my head around and pulled my plane around to try and get a lead on the other plane._

"_You can't protect the sky." My body froze to his words and he easily pulled up behind my own plane. "You and everyone you know on your base is going to die and you can't save them. Just like your family." My plane shook as 20mm shells ripped through its armor platting and I watched as my world was enveloped in flames before an explosion ripped my F-5 apart._

I woke it with a startle and fell out of the top bunk. I was in a cold sweat when I noticed alarms blaring. I crawled over to the window and looked through the blinds to see the burning wreckage of a plane and emergency workers going to extinguished when Choppers busted through the door.

"Blaze! Come with me now!" I nodded as I scrambled up to my feet and we both ran through the base. "The training flight was jumped by enemy fighters! Svenson was shot down in combat with most of the nuggets while Baker just crashed on landing. I hear only one training pilot and Captain Bartlett survived the engagement!" I could feel myself as I started to choke up by the thought of Nagase being shot down and I ran faster towards the hangers. Both the trainee pilot's and Bartlett's plane had just finished taxying and started to pop open their hatches. I could see Bartlett and Gennette get out of the plane when the pilot in the number 7 plane took his helmet off and relief swept over me.

"Kei!" She glanced in my direction before looking away and down as I approached. As I got closer to her, I could see the faint outlines of dried up tears in her eyes when Bartlett turned around to yell at her.

"Nagase! You keep flying like that and you'll die real soon!"

"I won't die, sir." Her voice was a whisper as she got out of her plane.

"You sure? You look like you couldn't hurt a fly." Gennette took a picture of her and she had a faint smile on before he left with Bartlett. After that she walked past me ignoring me and I knew that todays encounter was on her mind.

"Nagase! Kei!" I called out to her but she kept on walking away. I was about to follow her when Bartlett grabbed my shoulder.

"Crew room, now." Even with his stern voice and look, his eyes were filled with sadness and regret before he left.

"Blaze... Do you think... Think that we're going to need to kill people?" My memory of my dream flashed back to me and I hung my head low.

"I'm not sure Chopper... Maybe we might have to." I left for the crew room to see that it was all ready starting to fill with the other pilots that happened to be on the ground today when I spotted Kei sitting alone. Chopper and I took a seat next to her and she could only silently nod. With a time like this conflict, we knew it was important to stay together. Bartlett was sitting in his chair with a blank look as he starred up at the ceiling and I could only worry about him. I've never seen him like this and I've got no clue on what type of turmoil he's going through when he straightened out to speak.

"I know you don't like this, but er'tr short on people. Starting tomorrow all of you nuggets are gonna be sitting alert. If we launch, stay glued to me up there. Nagase," he said sharply and she sat up straighter.

"Sir."

"You're flying number two on my wing. Gotta keep an eye on you or who knows what you'll get yourself into." He shot me a quick glance and I raised an eyebrow before he dismissed us all. I looked at the clock to see that it was all ready dinner and time sure did fly this uneventful day. The food here was bad before, but today it tasted like regurgitated shit. I could barely stand it and I just threw it out before going back to my room. The base's mood was gloomy yet energetic as people staid alerts and silently mourned the loss of the nuggets and instructors. Getting into my room, I quickly took off my shirt to start my work out before I went to bed. I need all the rest I can get if I'm going to be on alert. Stretching as I put in my earbuds for my MP3 player, I started out with my 80 sets of push ups. Down and up I went nearly perfectly to the beat of the song I was listening to and my muscles flexed. Flipping around I started with my sit ups when I noticed Kei standing in the door and fumbled around as I started to get up.

"Kei?" I got up from the ground and tried to think of something to say as she looked at me intrigued yet confused. "This is... Your room?" She nodded and I looked away embarrassingly. "I swear, I was assigned to this room. If you want I can ask the base command to change rooms and-"

"It's all right Renton. I'm fine with it... It's just the-"

"The scar?" I could feel it start to itch as that painful memory returned and I looked away. "It's something I don't want to talk about now..." She shifted her weight to her back leg as she looked me over and nodded.

"Yep, I knew it. You're some buff but... Wow..." I smirked and blushed slightly at her compliment.

"Yeah... Funny thing was that when I was getting my physical, the doc I had, heh, she concluded that I was some sort of superhuman." She laughed at that and stepped into the room while closing the door behind her about to say something else. "Don't worry, I won't be in the room while your changing. You all right with me taking the late night one with you earlier?"

"Sounds good to me. And you claimed the top bunk right?"

"I did. I guessed the bottom one was yours anyway." She sat down in her bed and I sat next to her. "So now tell me. What's on your mind?" She went silent and looked away and I pressed. "You know I'm always here Princess. Your dove is here and is willing to listen." She sighed and made up her thoughts before explaining.

"It's about todays conflict... I did survive and all but... Everyone else... They're gone and I couldn't do anything." Tears were brimming her eyes as she went on. "I could trail enemies well but I couldn't... Couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger." A single tear fell from her eyes and I couldn't think of anything else to do but wrap one arm around to her comfort her.

"The thought of ending another one's life is difficult. It is one that has troubled people in the past but the thought of losing someone that is close to you or even a wingman is even worse when you know you could have saved them if you had pulled the trigger. Join me Kei in protecting the skies from darkness by shooting down those who threaten it. You said that you fell in love with the sky? Then help me defend it." She cried silently into my shoulder and I couldn't believe what was happening. The girl that I had a crush on for the months we were at Heierlark was now bunking with me, is sitting in my arms crying, and had survived what looked like the beginning of a war. Her chest heaved with every cry but it soon smoothed out as she fell asleep. I laid her down and tucked her in before exiting the room for some fresh air. Closing the door behind me, I stood out in the hallway before turning towards Bartlett who was leaning on the wall outside of my room.

"How's she doing?"

"Shaken up from todays conflict and the fact she couldn't pull the trigger."

"A dangerous trait to have when you're in a fight for your life."

"Though I told her what my father had taught me and I think that helped her." He smirked as he pushed himself off from the wall.

"I'm glad for that." He started to walk down the hall way when he turned around. "You also know that she has a thing for you?" I started to blush and I tried to talk but my mouth seemed to malfunction like my plane did today.

"H-H-How so?"

"You're the only one that she's opened up to since she came to this base and you're also the only one here that has mad her smile so far... Though don't get any funny ideas or I will beat your ass personally before court martialing you." I held my hands up in defense as he directed one of his fierce glares at me and pointed a finger at me sternly. We both went our own ways and I stepped outside to stare at the stars.

'_Did that dream mean anything? "You can't protect the skies." Who ever said that...' _ I kept on looking at the sky before raising my hand towards it. _'Will these skies of peace be shattered with war? If so, I will go on to protect it from the darkness.'_ I clenched my fist as I looked up at the stars before making it back to my room to sleep.

* * *

**Sand Island Air Base **

**September 24, 2010**

**0702hrs.**

* * *

I woke up the very next day and glanced at the clock to see it was around 7 in the morning and Kei was still asleep. Sneaking out of the room, I went out side to go do my morning jog around the island. The air was crisp as the sun was stating to come up and everything was so peaceful. It was as if yesterdays attack never happened. Passing by the hangers, I could hear the clang of tools hitting metal and I peaked my head inside and it surprised me to find that Pops was in there working on my plane. I thought that I would be the first one to wake up and I guess I was wrong. Finishing up the jog, I went on to complete the rigorous exercise routine that even body builders wouldn't want to complete. I guess what happened to me all those years ago did have their ups in the end. As I went through the routine, the base was slowly coming to life as personnel started to wake up and get to their duties. Guards were already on their patrols as I finished up my last exercise and went back to my room to grab my bathing items. Kei wasn't in the room and I guessed that she had already woken up and was in the mess hall. Taking a quick shower to wash off last nights grime and todays sweat, I dressed quickly as my stomach growled and I made my way down to the mess hall. Grabbing a tray of food, I looked around and spotted Kei again sitting alone at a table. I walked over and greeted me as I sat down when Chopper gave me a hardy slap on the back and sat down next to me.

"Mornin' Blaze, Nagase."

"Mornin' Chopper." We both said and I dove into my food. It still wasn't as good as what commercial food tasted like, but I was to hungry to care and I knew that I will have to get used to it since it was probably going to be the only thing that I would be eating in a while. We chatted some as we ate. Some was about how they all thought that Uncle Bartlett was a major hard ass when Chopper brought up the topic of yesterdays attack.

"You know I've been thinking."

"About what?" I asked.

"About yesterday." The atmosphere got heavier as he brought it up and I could see Kei was uncomfortable but he continued. "Don't you think that it's strange how we were attacked? I don't think it was a coincidence that they just happened to fly upon the group of nuggets, shoot them all down, before disappearing." I nodded my head as I followed where he was going. "Hey Nagase," she tensed up slightly but relaxed as she looked at him. "Do you remember any marking on the enemy fighters?" She took a moment to think and her eyes widened some as she realized she hadn't.

"No... All the planes had no markings on them..."

"Do you think that... These attacks were weakening our defense for some larger force?" We all staid quiet as we took in the thought and Kei shook her head.

"We've been at peace for years now. Who would be the one that would Challenge Osea when we've got the backing of the second world superpower, Yuktobania. Belka can't be it since they've learned their lesson with that war 15 years ago... So then who?" I furrowed my brow slightly at the mention of the Belkan war and I caught a glance that Kei gave me when I looked up.

"Maybe a rouge faction?" I suggested and they nodded cause we all wanted to move on from that subject. After breakfast, I went on to help Pops fix my own aircraft since we needed all able pilots to be able to scramble their planes once an enemy aircraft was picked up on radar. After hours of work, we finally got my plane working again along with Choppers and I whipped the sweat off my brow. I thought that living in the tropics was nice and even nicer to be stationed on a tropical island air base, but the heat was worse than I thought it would be. I was whipping the grease off my hands when Chopper ran over to me urgently.

"Blaze! Command has just received an order from the higher ups and the Captain wants us to get into the crew room asap!" I nodded and jogged over to the crew room quickly for the briefing. Kei and some others were already in the room and I took my seat near her. And thank god this room was air conditioned because it was miserable outside when Perrault and another person came into the room.

"Who's that?" I whispered to Kei, pointing to the other guy.

"That's Captain Hamilton. He's basically the second in command here on Sand Island."

* * *

_-Briefing-_

_Another aircraft of unknown origin has entered Osean federation airspace. We have confirmed the target type as a strategic recon plane flying at very high altitude. Despite our repeated warnings, it continued to penetrate our ADEZ and was fired upon by Osean Costal Defense Force SAM's We believe one of our SAM's damaged the unknown plane but did not destroy it. Radar shows that the aircraft is currently losing altitude, and is attempting to egress feet wet towards the ocean. Intercept this aircraft and force it to land for identification. Do not fire upon this aircraft until further orders are transmitted._

* * *

**Cape Landers**

**September 24, 2010**

**1101hrs**

* * *

Kei, myself, and Chopper scrambled this time with Bartlett and through the flight, it was just silent... Well silent in the way that no one else was talking much minus Chopper's blabbering and the silence was only broken when we arrived over Cape Landers.

"This is Heartbreak One of Wardog Squadron, we are approaching the target."

"This is AWACS, callsign Thunderhead. Roger. Bring the target to the ground. Do not fire at the target. Repeat, do not fire at the target.

"You got that, nuggets?" He called over the radio.

"Wardog 2, roger." Kei called in.

"Wardog 3, roger." Chopper called in as well. Though I guess I was still thinking about who was attacking that I didn't call in.

"... Wardog 4! Helloooop? Can you hear me, Kid? You better be markin' our tails!" He yelled and I snapped out of my train of thought.

"Sorry, I'm here sir." I called out.

"Looks like you're confident at least. Don't get separated form me." He called back and I knew that he was worried about me since he nearly lost his entire flight squadron.

"Man, I'm glad you drew the short straw instead of me!" Chopper said.

"Second Lieutenant Alvin H. Davenport, sip it! You need a nickname too?" I knew that tone all to well and I knew he was joking around, but to others it might have been slightly frightened by it. Though Chopper responded quite bravely even though it was the Captain he was talking to.

"I respectfully ask to be called Chopper sir! I may not respond to any other moniker."

"Hmmm... That does fit you well... But I've got a better name for you, but I will keep it to myself got it?"

"Aww, cut me some slack, man!" He sighed when I noticed a black blip in the blue sky in the distance.

"Tally ho, we've got company. Lets go!" We all banked right and fell into the bogies 12 o'clock. "You are forbidden to fire upon the target until I give permission, understand?"

"And risk starting an international war? I wouldn't dream of it."

"Good boy." He called back. Flying closer again, the captain chimed over the radio again. "All right, where's Motormouth Chopper?" I couldn't hold a laugh and let it out before glancing over at Kei's plane to see she was shaking uncontrollably from what I guess was laughter.

"What!? THat's your name for me?

"You've got a knack for comic dialog. You mind sending a surrendure request for me?"

"Oh no, please, age before beauty."

"I'm real shy around strangers, you know?..." Knowing Bartlett, he was more stubborn than he was a hard ass and Chopper just sighed in defeat.

"Sheesh. Testing, testing. Attention, unidentified aircraft. Set your course for our beacon immediatly."

"Good!"

"Uh... We will direct you to the nearest airfield. Lower your gear if you understand." I pulled in even closer to get a better look at the aircraft and i was surprised to see it was a SR-71 Blackbird and before I could get a look to see if it had anything that would point it towards what nation it, it banked harder to the right when Thunderhead came over the radio.

"Warning! We have four high-speed bogies inbound! Approaching unknown aircraft at bearing 280, altitude 5,000! Hold your fire until further orders."

"Crossing the pond to fly cover for their spy plane, huh? Now there's a fighter pilot worth his wings. Enemy inbound bearing 280! Head on. You're not to fire until I say it's ok, got me?"

"Roger that."

"Good." We all banked right and flew head on with the unknown fighters. My hands were starting to shake some thinking that we will have to fight but I tightened my grip to steady it when missiles and cannon tracers started to fly through the sky.

"Heads up! They're firing!" Chopper yelled and my adrenaline spiked. Cannon shells flew past my canopy and plane when one of them went through it and buried itself into the seat right next to my neck.

"Son of a bitch!" I rolled my plane around to trail one of the enemy fighters that strafed us full of anger. "Captain! Permission to engage these assholes!?"

"Wardog Squadron! Weapons safe! Hold your fire until further orders!"

"Oh come on! Those aren't blanks they're firing out there!" I all ready had a lock on one of the planes that fired first and I had my finger posed over the trigger.

"Shut your mouth and fire back!" Bartlett yelled out and I smirked.

"Roger that, sir." I was about to pull the trigger when a wave of guilt washed over me. The thought of ending another human life made me freeze when I remembered what my father said. Making a resolve, I released a side winder from my plane and watched it as it shoved itself into the tailpipe blowing it up. "Fox 2."

"Edge, engaging!"Rolling my plane over, I latched onto another plane. As my pipper crossed onto the enemy plane, I pulled the trigger and sent a volley of 20mm shells into the wing, shredding it off and sending the plane tumbling into the sea.

"We're gonna shoot them all down, Kid." Bartlet called out and my body relaxed in the adrenaline spike that it was having and I pulled the stick around as one of the enemy fighters latched onto my six. I kept up on swerving around trying to shake him, but he stuck to me like glue. "Edge! I can't get him off my six o'clock!" I called out as a stream of tracers poured over my canopy and I pulled hard right to avoid it.

"Fox 2." Her voice calmly said as she let a missile off it's rack and into the perusing plane, turning it into a burning heap of metal.

"You mind if I grab this kill? I will, you know." Chopper asked and I looked back to see him flying with Bartlett.

"Go ahead." Bartlett said as Kei went on to grab another kill.

"Wardog Squadron! Weapons safe! Hold your fire until further orders!" Thunderhead barked at us but I ignored him and checked my radar to see another flight of enemy planes were coming in and I went head on with them. Getting a missile lock, I fired off the last missile and unloaded a few cannon shots into the canopy of another plane as we passed by. The enemy pilot that I shot the missile at, stupidly flew straight into the missile and I shot down two more planes bringing my kill count up to four.

"Turning to engage bandits." Kei said quietly as she took lead and chased down one of the enemy planes and I trailed behind her when Chopper whistled over the radio.

"Don't let him get away! Aim straight!" Bartlett barked at Chopper as he trailed after the second aircraft and Thunderhead just started to sound like a broken record.

"Hold your fire."

"My only regret... Is not being able to fly with a captain with a sunnier disposition."

"Wardog, I ordered weapons safe for all aircraft. Follow orders and hold your fire! Do no fire at the target. Repeat, do not fire at the target!" As both Chopper and Kei finished off the planes they were trailing, a flight of four more plane arrived and I turned towards them. I could feel the stress of flying start to set in but I pushed the feeling of drowsiness away and concentrated in shooting down the next enemies. I went high and dove on top of the enemies with the clouds concealing me with Kei right behind me as Chopper and Bartlett went head on. I lined up another shot and unloaded another burst of my gun and the shells hit the back of the plane shredding it to bits before the fuel inside exploded, sending it down in a watery grave.

"Enemy recon plane down!" Thunderhead reported.

"Aaawww, what a shame. To tiered to party?" Bartlett said sarcastically and I laughed some what before I barrel rolled over one of the fighters that was trailing me and let out a long stream of bullets to take it down before Bartlett shot down the last one.

"All unknown bogey aircraft destroyed." Thunderhead reported and I could see that he was doing his best to control his temper.

"This is your captain. Can you hear my voice?" Bartlett asked.

"I'm here Captain." Nagase called in.

"Oh you would miss my voice if I wasn't here cap!" Chopper commented and I could her Bartlett sigh somewhat.

"Sometimes, I miss the peace and quiet I had..."

"I'm still well and kicking cap." I said.

"Good, looks like we can all hear each other," he started. "You all alive? All right. Nice work, nuggets. Wardog 4, you still following us? Well, to commemorate the fact that we all made it out of this battle alive, I'm gonna keep your nickname. From now on, I'm gonna call you "Kid" no matter what. Got it? Good." I was glad that we all made it out alive and I did like how the new nickname he gave me sounded. Even as we made out way back to base, the adrenaline was still flowing through my body and made me feel a bit better since the fight was so intense. We got a message from central on the way back to base telling us that all information about todays encounter were to be classified and for Captain Jack Bartlett is to report to base headquarters immediately. We all had just landed and Bartlett was cursing as he got out of his plane and made his way to Perrault's office and I could feel the adrenaline start to die down when I noticed a slight sting in my neck. I shook it off as I popped my canopy and some engineers came over to examine the damage to my canopy. Kei and Chopper were all ready out of their planes and went over to meet up with me just as I got out of mine.

"Man, I can not believe we made it! And I know how many kills you have man!" Chopper slapped me on the back and I smiled softly. "You're an Ace! You're the first Ace in a soon to be war!" I frowned at Choppers words.

"Soon to be war?" I gave him a questioning look and he was about to answer when Kei got closer to me. "Uuhh... Kei?" She raised her hand up and touched the back of my neck with a finger causing me to flinch some from some foreign pain and drew it back in shock to find it wet.

"Blood?... Blaze, you're bleeding!" I touched my fingers back to my neck to get a severe sting from it and I brought it back to have it come up red. "Come on Blaze, lets take you to the med bays." She dragged me to the med bays and as soon as the adrenaline rush ran out, the pain that it was suppressing soon came in force and man did it sting like a bitch. The doctor had me remove the top part of my flight suit and I saw the part around my neck was caked in blood. She started to clean the wound and pick out the bits of shrapnel that was stuck in there and Kei staid behind for some reason. She could have left when she brought me here, but she staid behind. Though I couldn't see her since she was behind me, I can tell that she was looking over the scar I've got on my back. It's one of the few things that I have to remember that one day that changed everything. As the doc finished up removing the shrapnel from my neck, she sterilized the wound and wrapped it up.

"Will I still be able to fly?"

"With this kind of wound? Of course you can. It might be uncomfortable for a while, but it won't hinder you in anyway." She left leaving Kei and myself in the room and I didn't both putting the top of my flight suit back on since it still had fresh blood on it, I sat there shirtless.

"You really want to learn the story about the scars?" I asked and looked over at Kei.

"What? N-No you don't have to tell me about it now if it's-"

"It's fine... If we're going to be flying together for a long time, it will be nice to get to know each other more." I said with a slight smile. "And I think Mobius 1 will be happy to know that he's still a role model for someone."

"Wait how did you-"

"Your flying style. It nearly matches his perfectly." I smirked and she looked at me amusingly. "If you want to talk, then lets get back to our room." I said and we both left the med bay for the dorms. Some of the women staff around gave me the looks and I glanced back to see Kei was scowling slightly at them and I smirked.

'_So I guess she might like me or something...'_ Throwing the top into the wash, both Kei and I made it back to our room and Kei took a seat on her bed and I sat next to her on it.

"So... What do you want to know?"

"How did you... Get that scar on your back?" I rested my chin in my hands as I went back to the memory that I wanted to forget ever happened and I started to tell her what happened.

"I got this scar from when I was just 7. I was home with my mother, older brother, and older sister when it all happened. My father was out on base for some reason that I forget and my little sister was down in Souther Osea visiting my grandparents when it all happened. We all were just sitting around having lunch and all when a large explosion sounded outside. Someone started to pound on the door and my brother went to the door quickly when the soldiers started to shoot through the door, killing him. My sister quickly shoved me in a closet we had and said for me to be quiet as she shut the doors. I could still see slightly out of the crack to only witness herself getting stabbed and shot. My mother tried to put up a fight but they quickly mowed her down. They just kept on shooting even after the first five shots... They knew she was dead after the first but... They just kept on going..." I could feel my voice start to tremble and I felt Kei's hand on my back which helped me continue. "After they killed them, one of them planted a bomb on the inside of the house and they left. I staid their for a few more seconds before I peeled the door open and crept outside. As soon as I knew it was clear, I started to run out of the house. I just wanted to get out... As soon as I got out of the house, the bomb detonated into a fiery mess and a large piece of burning shrapnel hit me..." I flinched as I relived the impact of the shrapnel and my scar started to itch again. I knew that I couldn't tell her what really happened next. "Though after that... I don't really remember much... I remember going to a hospital and getting the shrapnel out of my back but.. I don't remember anything after that..." A single tear fell from my face as all these memories flooded into my mind and I Kei then brought me into an embrace.

"It's all right. Now it's time for the Princess to take care of the Dove." She said in a soothing tone and it helped me some what. I sniffed as I hugged back before breaking the hug and got on another shirt I had before sitting down.

"Thanks Kei... After telling you that I feel a bit better." We went on talking a bit more and even on the way down to lunch and I learned that why she envies Mobius 1 was because she was on a civilian transport plane that he protected. She even mentioned that her parents were the ones that designed the Arkbird. When we finished up with lunch, I went out to the hangers to check on my own plane to see how it was doing before going on to tune my plane. After a while I noticed that Kirk was sitting patiently in front of me wagging his tail with a Frisbee at my feet.

"Want to play boy?" His tail wagged even harder now and his tongue hung out happily at the mention of play and I picked up the Frisbee and walked outside to see Bartlett with Gennette talking with each other in the other hanger where Pops was working on the Captains F-4 Phantom. "Fetch!" I threw the Frisbee hard and far and Kirk didn't waste anytime and bolted away after it when I started to hear what they were talking about.

"Who do you think's covering up the battle?" Gennette asked.

"Listen, the only thing across that ocean is Murska Air Base. That's Yuktobanian territory."

"But, haven't we been allies with the Yukes since the war fifteen years ago?"

"Yeah..." He responded and I reached down again to pick up the Frisbee and sent it back down the tarmac. "That's why we got people working their asses off trying to confirm what the hell's going on over there. I bet they got hotlines ringing off the hook somewhere upstairs. The government doesn't want to get the public riled up with all this you know? But it doesn't matter; soldiers like us are too stupid to think for ourselves, so we just gotta keep mouths shut when they tell us to. I feel kind of bad for you actually." He addressed that last part to Gennette.

"It's alright. I get to be with you guys." He sounded happy even though he was trapped on this island until things could clear up over this matter. Though the mention of Yuktobania started to get me thinking. They're the only other country here that would have an SR-71 at their disposal and that was just sour in my mouth. The Yukes planning ahead and making preliminary strike against us... Why would they do that to us?

"The Captain probably hates this more than anybody." Pops I glanced over to see Pops had came out from working on the planes and he was whipping the grease off his hands. "He used to have a lady friend back in Yuktobania."

"Yeah... That's an old war wound." He rubbed his neck again and it started to get me thinking of something as I threw the Frisbee but it started bank the other way and towards the Captain and the others with Kirk right behind... The... Ah shit...

"Head up!" Bartlett looked started as he ducked under the Frisbee and he was about to yell something at me when Kirk tackled him since he jumped to try to catch it out of the air.

"Agh! GOD DAMN IT KID!" Bartlett yelled and me and both Gennette and Pops got a laugh out of it. I rubbed the back of my head and I knew that he will be in a sour mood with me for a while before he forgives me... I just hope it's sooner than other times. He got up and grabbed the Frisbee and walked over to me with one of his mighty glares. "Did you throw this?" I nodded my head slowly and waited for it to happen before he tapped me on the head with the Frisbee and threw it over my head and side stepped for me to see Kirk running at full speed to jump for it.

"Oh shi-!" Kirk tackled me and used my head as spring board to jump into the air to catch it, and Kirk is NOT a light dog at all! Falling on my back I gripped the side of my neck that was wrapped in bandages and winced slightly before smirking. "Yep... I deserved that..." Pops and Gennette couldn't stop laughing as I got up and Kirk just sat there, Frisbee in mouth, wagging his tail back and forth and I just gave up for the day when a thought occurred. "Hey Un-... Captain Bartlett."

"Yeah Kid?"

"If we were to start a war with Yuktobania, would you say that the base is armed well enough to be a first line of defense? I mean... We're only armed with enough F-5E's for some of the pilots and yourself in your F-4." He took a moment to think before turning his back to me

"No... With the current flight experience, we are completely out gunned and classed but I think we might survive if we got some better planes. I mean, we're just a reserve squadron after all... But I won't let another one of you die out there... Not again..." He left and I knew that the death of his nuggets still weighed heavily on him and the threat of another war was just imminent. I sighed as I went back tog et in some shut eye. Both Kei and I went down to Choppers room to hang out some until dinner time and I stuck around the mess hall a while longer eating before making it back to my room figuring Kei had finished her shower. Opening the door, she was standing there wrapped in a towel going through her clothes and my face red as we both made eye contact, I quickly shut the door and braced myself against the wall as my mind just processed what happened and damned was I lucky she still had a towel on. A minute later, she cracked the door open and she was still slightly flushed as she let me in.

"I'm sorry Kei, it was an accident. Don't worry I didn't see anythin-" She pressed a finger to my lips and I held my hands up in defense.

"Not another word Renton. We both know it was an accident and accidents happen..." She looked away flushing a light pink. "Though if you saw anything, I would still beat you to a pulp." I sweat dropped slightly as I climbed into the top bunk and rubbed my bandages and crawled under the covers.

"Night Kei."

"Night Renton."

* * *

**So here's chapter two! Thank you for reviewing chapter one and I think I've gotten slightly better and I thought that keeping up to my standard of around 4,000 words per chapter would be tough... around 7,000 words for this one chapter -w- I guess making the minimum will be no problem. Anyways, if you got any questions, suggestions, or comments, leave them down in a review or Pm me! Don't worry, I won't bite... Much... hehe. But really, drop a review bellow or send me a Pm if you want.**

**And special thanks to Blaze118 and lixiaofossil for being the first two to review my story :D**


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